onrec.com – April 22, 2008 – The National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA), a nonprofit organization of state administrators of unemployment insurance laws, employment services, training programs, employment statistics and labor market information and other programs and services provided through publicly-funded state workforce systems, entered into an alliance agreement with DirectEmployers Association (DEA), a nonprofit consortium of 375 leading U.S. employers, to create a new employer-funded, jointly administered National Labor Exchange. JobCentral National Labor Exchange was launched in March 2007 to provide employers and states an online tool to better manage our nation’s vast talent resources and comply with State and Federal regulations.
Background
After an extensive two-year review and evaluation of the ongoing viability of maintaining a national job site, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) announced in March 2006 plans to discontinue operation of America’s Job Bank (AJB). Due to a number of factors, it was determined by DOL that the benefits of AJB no longer outweighed the costs of operating and maintaining the AJB system. The cost of operating AJB had been as high as $27 million per year, with an annual operating maintenance-only budget of $12 million per year. Even with this sizable investment, according to the DOL, AJB had not been able to keep up with private sector job boards or industry standards and the technology platform on which AJB was built had become obsolete. It was determined that the cost to maintain AJB and constantly upgrade the foundational technology and make improvements to the site was no longer justifiable.
Collaboration
In March 2007, NASWA, a nonprofit organization of state administrators of unemployment insurance laws, employment services, training programs, employment statistics and labor market information and other programs and services provided through publicly-funded State workforce systems, signed a five-year alliance agreement with DEA to create a new employer-funded, jointly administered National Labor Exchange; this alliance agreement is automatically renewable for successive one-year terms. NASWA’s decision to create an alliance with DEA was made after an exhaustive six-month evaluation by a select committee of its member-state representatives.
DEA is a nonprofit consortium of leading U.S. employers. Its Board-of-Directors includes an impressive group of industry leaders: Analysts International, CertainTeed, Coca-Cola Enterprises, ConocoPhillips, Emory University, General Dynamics, IBM Corporation, International Paper, Janus Capital, KPMG, Lehman Brothers, Lockheed Martin, Mayo Clinic, Merck, Newell Rubbermaid, OSRAM Sylvania, Raytheon, Rolls Royce, The Boeing Company, The McGraw-Hill Companies, USAA, Weyerhaeuser, and Xerox Corporation.
